Gilbert Burns is prepared to do whatever he has to do to stay active and earn a welterweight title shot.
The UFC welterweight division is beginning to heat up. The champion of that division, Leon Edwards has just defended his belt for the first time against Kamaru Usman. His next opponent has been picked already, it will be Colby Covington according to Dana White. Despite the promise to Covington, there are plenty of other fighters wanting a shot at the belt. Jorge Masvidal and Gilbert Burns are among the few that think they could be next. They will be facing off in April and both feel that a win gets them to the front of the line.
Also standing in the wings is Conor McGregor. He is returning from a long layoff and will be fighting Michael Chandler at 170 pounds. He has mentioned that he feels a win will get him in the title picture as well. With him being such a huge star it is hard to deny that the UFC will give him this chance, even Burns knows this.
Gilbert Burns kn0ws that realistically Conor McGregor might get a title shot over him
Burns was a guest on the Believe You Me Podcast with Michael Bisping and Anthony Smith. While there he spoke about how he felt about his title shot chances and the probability of him possibly leapfrogging Covington. He was also asked about the status of McGregor and how he would feel being passed over for the Irish superstar.
“That can happen, you know, that literally can happen,” he said. “Or the opposite or Colby beats Leon and Colby fights Conor McGregor. Yeah, can happen. I don’t know.”
Burns will not just sit around if that scenario comes true. He plans on beating Masvidal in Miami and then continuing down the line.
“Give me Belal Muhammed, give me the next guy, give me the next guy, gotta just keep, I’m not gonna stop and wait,” he said. “That’s one thing that I can say right? I’m not just gonna, let’s say I’m the number one contender right now. I’m not just gonna sit down and wait, you know, I gotta stay active it’s just the way I feel better, just the way I feel alive. I gotta be competing, you know, and we’ll see I hope that doesn’t happen.”
Burns will be putting himself in a great position if he can beat Masvidal on April 8. Right now he is ranked at number five and has been one of the more active fighters out of all the men being considered for the title.
